Rumors were circulating late last week that Sprint and Clearwire were close to a deal that would see wireless carrier Sprint acquire all Clearwire shares that it didn't already own. Sprint has announced today that it has entered into an agreement that would see it acquire 100% ownership at $2.97 per share.

Sprint says that it is uniquely positioned to leverage Clearwire's 2.5 GHz spectrum assets. Sprint also believes that the purchase will strengthen its position and increase its competitiveness in the wireless industry within the U.S.

With all outstanding shares Sprint is purchasing, the deal values Clearwire at $2.2 billion. The transaction gives Clearwire a total enterprise value of about $10 billion including its net debt and spectrum lease obligations of $5.5 billion.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse championed the move, stating, “Sprint is uniquely positioned to maximize the value of Clearwire’s spectrum and efficiently deploy it to increase Sprint’s network capacity. We believe this transaction, particularly when leveraged with our SoftBank relationship, is further validation of our strategy and allows Sprint to control its network destiny.”

Their coverage is horrible where I am, its to the point where they gave me one of their Airave Access Points so that I'd have consistent coverage in my own home. I'm located 1 mile east of one of their stores as well, which has almost no 3g coverage it's self let alone 4G/LTE.